Andrew Bird’s Armchair Apocrypha was one of the better albums of 2007 that I didn’t get my ears on until 2008. Making my best of 2007 list somewhat less than complete. Oh, well. Can’t hear everything, I suppose. But today I try to make up for that shortcoming, just a little, by posting this September 27, 2007, show, in which Mr. Bird plays quite a few selections off of that album.

Those of you who were with me when I was on Blogger may recall that in 2006 I picked a little-known record by a band called Empty Rooms as one of the best offerings of that year. It’s taken them a while, but they’re back. And they’re still excellent.

“Lacuna” finds Empty Rooms as spooky as ever, but the lead track, “All’s Well,” breaks new ground for them. Eschewing the echoey indie guitar for monk-like chanting, the band ventures even deeper into Radiohead territory than they’ve ever gone before. And the results are transcendent. The other three songs on the EP reflect the band’s movement into even deeper contemplative and meditative music. There’s still the occasional crunchy riff, but the focus is on percussion and mood, chants and swells.

The album isn’t available yet, but if you go here, you can pre-order it.

Texas-based Aster’s 2007 release, “Some Things Seldom Heard Of,” is actually, apparently, a 2008 release. Go figure. But whatever year you put it down in, it’s worth your eartime. I’m not going to call it shoegazer, because it’s much more than simply soaring. Yeah, it’s lush, with light and airy vocals, trippy beats, and piano swells–the works–but the music has a richness and texture I don’t usually get from shoegazer.

I’m really enjoying this CD, but I’m finding it really hard to write about. Howzabout you all check out these two tracks, or go stream it, and write your own reviews, in the comments.

Warren Zevon is probably my favorite songwriter. I dig his classic hits, which always inject bitter humor, like “Lawyers, Guns, and Money” and “Werewolves,” but I also like his lesser known ironies, like “Something Bad Happened to a Clown” and “Rottweiler Blues.” I also appreciate his tender moments, like “The French Inhaler” and “Tenderness on the Block,” as well as his barnstorming blues cuts, like “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” and “Piano Fighter.” All of it is good.

But I rarely post on the man. So, today, it’s Zevon rarities day! His birthday was January 24, so I missed it by about a week, but whatever.

These are all live bootleg tracks, of various levels of quality, that I hope you’ll enjoy. All tracks below are by the WZ, unless otherwise noted.

A is for All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan). A bit long and rambling, but I really like what he does with it. It’s much more like a Bob Dylan cover than a cover of the Jimi Hendrix version, which is what most folks do.